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Austria
Race20h 3m
Max Verstappen says he is confused by how quickly he lost control and crashed in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix. Verstappen said: "On that lap already, at Turn 6 on entry, I had a big moment, which was weird because the whole weekend I've never had something like that. Then I arrived at Turn 9, I turned in and it was immediately gone. Not even a small correction, it was just me, full lock off. So that's a bit odd, but we'll have a look."
Sky Sports F1 analyst Bernie Collins said George Russell's pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix should be treated as "case closed" after questions over whether he went through a double-waved yellow-flag zone during qualifying. Bernie Collins said: "In the data, and everything I can see, at the point George Russell and Kimi Antonelli went through that sector, it was not a double-waved yellow flag. And in reality, it was not a double-waved yellow flag. It is case closed... It only went double-waved on his in-lap, so it should stay."
Isack Hadjar has been summoned to the stewards after Austrian Grand Prix qualifying following an FIA investigation into an alleged Q1 breach. The Red Bull driver, who qualified eighth, and a team representative must report at 17:30 local time over an alleged breach of Article B1.8.5 and failing to follow the race director’s notes.
Lewis Hamilton said his mistake on his first Q3 run in Austrian Grand Prix qualifying “always affects the second lap”, but he was pleased to still end up third on the grid. Hamilton said: "The weekend had been looking good, but in Q3 run one, it was my mistake, and I didn't get the first lap, and that always affects the second lap. But nonetheless, even just to be that close, given I didn't get the first lap, I'm really happy for that. I'm just really proud of everybody because you can see how hard everyone's working, and it is starting to pay off."
Andrea Kimi Antonelli admitted he cost himself a front-row start for the Austrian Grand Prix by aborting his final qualifying lap after mistaking a single waved yellow flag for a double yellow following Max Verstappen’s crash. Antonelli said: "I don't know why, but I thought it was a double yellow. So I aborted completely and missed the front row. I shouldn't have done that, that was my mistake."
George Russell said he lifted significantly for yellow flags on his pole-winning lap for the Austrian Grand Prix after questions were raised when Max Verstappen crashed near the end of qualifying at the Red Bull Ring. Russell said: "I feel incredible. It was such an amazing lap. I saw the yellow and had a big lift into the corner. I was five-tenths up, and when I came out of the last corner, I was two-and-a-half tenths up. It was a single yellow as well, not a double, so I should be okay."
Toto Wolff says George Russell “lifted off adequately” through the yellow-flag zone after Max Verstappen’s Q3 crash, and that Mercedes’ data showed Russell lost time despite still taking pole. Wolff said: "It was a 100 metre lift, it's a single yellow. It's a 100-metre lift from George, he loses a tenth and a half. It was an incredible lap, we saw it on the data, it was a massive lift compared to all the laps before. Well done to him, I'm really happy he managed to do it."
George Russell took pole position in a controversial end to qualifying for Formula 1's Austrian Grand Prix as Max Verstappen crashed out on his final effort
⚪️ George Russell: "I feel incredible. It was an amazing lap. I saw the yellow, I had a big lift into the corner, went in in five tenths up and came out two and a half tenths up. It was a single yellow and should be okay. Everything felt sweet and I am really proud of the job we all did." 🔴 Charles Leclerc: "I'm relatively happy about today. Of course the last few weekends have been quite tough, so I just wanted to have a clean weekend and most of all a clean qualifying to start well fro tomorrow. To start second is a good place. The team have been pushing massively to bring upgrades in Barcelona and again this weekend, and that pays off. "If I’m completely honest, I didn’t think we’d be starting on the front row until qualifying really, so it’s a good surprise that we are so far up." 🔴 Lewis Hamilton: "To have the two Ferraris second and third is fantastic and a reflection of the amazing work being done back at the factory. They really are continuing to push. They brought small bits here and worked hard to upgrade the car. It is really starting to pay off. I made a mistake in Q3 and didn't get the first lap but I am really happy."
P1) George Russell – 1:06.113 P2) Charles Leclerc: +0.236 P3) Lewis Hamilton: +0.295 P4) Kimi Antonelli: +0.301 P5) Max Verstappen: +0.362 P6) Lando Norris: +0.389 P7) Oscar Piastri: +0.398 P8) Isack Hadjar: +0.519 P9) Liam Lawson: +0.842 P10) Arvid Lindblad: +0.894 Knocked Out (Q2) P11) Pierre Gasly P12) Gabriel Bortoleto P13) Oliver Bearman P14) Nico Hülkenberg P15) Esteban Ocon P16) Franco Colapinto Knocked Out (Q1) P17) Carlos Sainz P18) Alexander Albon P19) Sergio Perez P20) Valtteri Bottas P21) Fernando Alonso P22) Lance Stroll
Honda trackside chief engineer Shintaro Orihara says Formula 1’s enforced five-week break helped Honda tackle Aston Martin’s vibration problems by allowing it to take the car back to its Sakura base. Orihara said: "There was a positive point and negative point to have those two races cancelled. That was a negative point, but positive point, again, as I mentioned, after Suzuka, we brought Aston Martin's race car to Sakura. If we had these two races, probably it would have been too hard to bring the race car to Sakura."
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